Home   >   News   >   Korea   >   Teens responsible for most online pranks on ferry tragedy

Teens responsible for most online pranks on ferry tragedy

April 28, 2014

Police arrest records showed teenagers accounted for most of the police reports on online pranks linked to the Sewol tragedy.

The National Police Agency said Friday they screened 112 cases of online reports related to the tragedy with possible intentions of pranking. They narrowed them down to 76 to investigate and successfully apprehended 18 that were confirmed to be responsible for them.

Among the arrested, eight, or 44.4 percent, were in their teens.

Kim and Ji, both 15 years old, pretended to be survivors of the tragedy and posted online requests for immediate rescue.

Park, 13, distributed online a fake phone number which he claimed as that of the sunken ferry’s captain, who is at the core of citizenry frustration after the tragedy erupted.

Those arrested also included five people in their twenties, three in their thirties and two in their forties.

The report cited police saying that teens, without being compelled to feel remorse, committed the crimes simply to draw attention.